Sweet Irony
by eCZi
Summary: oneshot; Isn't it ironic when someone leaves, the ones left behind become closer? He never realized it until she was gone - for The Peafus.


My friends, I bring you, a 10,000+ ONESHOT ZOMG!! Yeapp, not too normal for eCZi here. :D But that's okay, I should extend my writing capabilities, yes? Guhh. This was started a while ago. DX And I have to apologize to my friend **RockCityRoadStar**, so…

Yes, Peafus, this is dedicated to _you_. Just because I owe you a drawing of Ally and a oneshot. Because I promised. Because you're my friend.

Well, all in all, this took a lot of time and effort (a lot more time than effort, I should say.) to get this done. XD I haven't told anyone the ending or anything, just some of the surprises. Hehehehhehehehe. And now, I bring you "Sweet Irony".

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, actually. Not even the school times. O-o

* * *

_Isn't it ironic when someone leaves, the ones left behind become closer?_

I could remember the day...

I was the happiest five-year-old kid alive.

"YAY! Sora's gonna by my brother now!"

Auntie laughed at me, but didn't say anything as Sora beamed at me.

He then said, "This is great, Roxas! But..."

"…Huh?" I repeated back at him with the same five-year-old questioning skills he had at the time. "But what?"

"Aren't we _cousins_?"

I stared at him. "Well...I dunno, Sora," I remember telling him, with a shrug. Then, I turned to my Mom. "Mommy, why're Sora and Auntie with us? Don't they have their own house?"

I still don't know why, but my Mom chuckled. "Roxas, hon, this _is_ their house now."

"…Does that mean it's not our house? Where are we gonna live?" I frowned at her as I gripped onto the hem of her shirt.

She laughed, I don't know why. Maybe she thought I was really funny back then. "Roxxie, it's _still our house_. We're just...sharing with Auntie and Sora...for now."

"Does that mean I have to share everything with Sora?"

"Yes, it does. Until we can get more stuff for Sora, you guys'll have to share."

I frowned a little bit, but I laughed a little after that. "Okay then." I grasped onto my cousin's hand as I announced, "Mommy, Sora and I are gonna play!"

I saw her green eyes turn to me, "Where will you be, in the backyard, right?"

Of course, being the obedient five-year old I was, I nodded with zeal. "Yeah, Mom! C'mon, Sora!"

Vaguely, I remember running along the side of my house, getting Sora and I pricked by the thin branches of the trees growing on the fences. I didn't care; I had a brother, and I was gonna make it the best I could.

"...Wow, Roxas, this is yours?" he paused to see my swing set when we stepped into my backyard. I nodded at him as he gasped. "I-It's prettiful! I can't believe your parents would get you this stuff!"

"Whaddya mean, Sora?"

"...My Mommy could never get that for me. I always ask her, 'Mommy, can you buy me this?', but she always says to me, 'Sorry, Sora, we can't get it right now, maybe next time.' or somethin' like that."

The blond boy frowned back at his cousin. "Oh. What about your Daddy, does he get it for you?"

Silence, one that was so awkward back then, but I didn't know it. I remember him letting out a big sigh. "...Well, Roxas, Mommy says that Daddy's on vacation or something. I dunno, but he doesn't live with us anymore."

"Oh...have you tried calling him?"

"I dunno his number."

"Oh..." I guess I didn't know what to say.

"Hey, Roxas? Can I swing on your swing set?" he asked me, breaking the silence. And that's when I nodded enthusiastically.

While we were happily swinging on my old swing set, and laughing and playing and telling jokes to each other, we heard a girly grunt. I didn't know what it was, but apparently, Sora thought he had an idea.

"Roxas, did you fart?"

"No!" I protested. "That's disgusting!"

"But that's a guy thing to do, Roxas!" he retorted back. "Besides, if you didn't fart, then what was that?"

I didn't answer him as I listened for that sound again. "There!" I said, pointing toward a corner where our fence and the neighbour's fence met. As we ran over there, we saw a pink ball roll out. Sora got scared, so, he clung onto my arm.

And I have to admit, I was pretty scared, too.

"Roxas! What is that?!" he asked me, holding onto me tighter as a girl our age, maybe a little smaller, squeezed out of the fence. The short, maroon-coloured hair and the bright blue-violet eyes and her supposed-to-be bright clothing were all covered in dirt and mud.

That was when we found our first friend.

She looked at us like we were aliens. "Who're you?" she asked. "And where is this?"

"I-I'm Roxas," I introduced myself to the dirty-clothed girl. I smiled as I nudged over to my cousin, "And this is my cousin, Sora. Sora, say hi!"

"Hi." he said.

"Hi."

"So, who are you?" my cousin asked. And then, my favourite part of this whole story. "Did you come from a fairy world?"

Fairy world? I could see her ask him. But instead, she said, "No, I don't come from a fairy world, why do you ask?"

"B-Because you're pretty enough to be a fairy." he smiled, and added an amateur wink. Geez, even at five, he was making those cheesy pickup lines. "But if you're not from a fairy world, where'd you come from?"

After a dumbfounded expression, she pointed to nearby the corner, her stubby finger telling us she lived in an old, two-story tan-coloured house with vines growing on it. It had a light-blue roof, almost grey with a small brick chimney coming up from the side.

"Wow." Sora's eyes were wide in amazement. "Roxas! I love this place already!"

She giggled; yup, she did it back then, too. "Sora, and uhm...Roxas, can I play with you guys?" the girl asked us.

Our similarly-blue eyes looked at each other. And as if it were rehearsed, we nodded in agreement.

"Sure. Let's play." we said simultaneously, both bearing a happy grin on our faces. Before I went to grab Kairi's bright-pink ball, Sora grabbed my shoulder.

I turned around as he said, "W-Wait, Roxas, we need to ask Mommy and Auntie, remember?"

I stared at him, "Oh, right." I said. "We have to go ask our Mommies and Aunties, so you can wait here, right?"

She nodded. "Okay."

And that was the day my cousin and I met Kairi.

**--**

Years later, maybe nine or ten years later, we're all fifteen. Well, Kairi and I were fifteen; Sora's birthday didn't arrive at the time, so he was still fourteen.

And we walked out of the grounds of our high school after a long day of schoolwork.

Of course, being the loving friends and cousin we are, Kairi and I were just making fun of him, as usual.

He pouted as Kairi threw another remark at him that he didn't quite understand (That's okay, he might not know I didn't know half of the things she said were, either, I just went with it to make fun of my cousin. Doesn't that sound fun?).

In addition to that, we made a remark about him being immature and a little boy, or something like that. (And there were surely dirty jokes, but we won't get into that right now.)

"You guys are jerks, you know that?" he retorted as we laughed.

"We know. But don't worry, Sora, you'll be fifteen soon. What do you want?" I asked him. I loved Kairi to death, like my own cousin, but sometimes, she can be so cruel.

I saw his eyes roll. Yeah, as if! I could hear him say. But no, he said, "I dunno...maybe the gift of finally being fourteen…" he stood in a heroic-like pose, fists on his hips. I saw Kairi as she rolled her eyes at my cousin's antics.

Fair enough, I decided. "I'm not getting you a swing set." I told him, like a parent. Like he cared; he barely had his biological parents.

"Why would I want a swing set?" he asked, with a scoff.

Wagging my finger, I replied, "Hey, you were jealous of mine's when you first moved in with me, so why can't I get you now, now that I have the money?"

"You don't even _have_ enough money for a swing set." flatly, he replied. "Besides, we still have your old one."

"...do you realize, Sora, that swing set's maybe ten years old or so?" Kairi asked with a matter-of-fact-tone. At this moment, it was obvious Sora wasn't gonna argue.

What am I, psychic? No, I'm not, actually (Although, that would be pretty cool.). It's just that, when you finally know you like someone, you don't want to disappoint them, right? Was Sora's case of liking Kairi any different?

Oh, did I just spill the beans? Oops.

"...Whatever, Kairi. It's a nice swing set." he retorted. "Anyways, did we have homework today?"

"I think so..." I pondered. Well, being a typical high-schooler, you wouldn't really be paying attention in class, nor remember the homework right off the back of your mind.

"Government homework...I think that's it so far." Kairi finished. Thank you, Kairi and your good habit of remembering things! (I hope you can tell that Kairi just told me and my brother right there; If she didn't tell us, I would've never known.) "No vocab, just some worksheet."

"Oh, alright then--," Sora was cut off to Kairi's coughing. It wasn't anything abnormal at the time; Kairi had been chronically (and annoyingly) coughing like that for a few months now. Sora and I were used to it, but we knew it was something serious.

"You should really get that checked out, Kairi." I told her, with a concerned tone.

"Y-Yeah..." she said. "I will. But I bet it's nothing serious."

--

Turns out, it was something serious.

"W-What?!" Sora shrieked. "You've gotta be joking!"

"_Seriously, Sora. Why else would I take the time to call you?"_ I heard Kairi's voice, weaker and graver than usual being spoken out of the house phone. I wasn't in the room at the time (Actually taking the laundry outside to hang 'em), but I heard Sora's yelling from down the hall when I walked back up the stairs, so it was like me to decide to listen.

"Because jokes take time, patience, and the victim's embarrassment, and you've got all of these down." my cousin said, obviously still not believing her. Outside the room, I was getting annoyed. If she was calling, at least listen to her!

"There's no WAY you can get Lung Cancer at fifteen years old!"

...Right there, I didn't know what to say. Maybe Sora had been right, and Kairi was joking. Maybe this was a cruel, mean prank on us because "she loved us enough to do it", or "she was doing it out of love," as she'd say.

But our first and best friend, Kairi, just had to tell us, that she was diagnosed with Lung Cancer.

Lung Cancer; Cancer, in the lungs.

"_If was no way I could get Cancer at fifteen years old, then I would've have it, now would I?_" She snapped back angrily. I could understand where she's coming from; I've never heard of a fifteen-year-old girl having Lung Cancer.

I couldn't believe it. I went straight back downstairs, and fell on the couch. I drifted slowly into sleep, drowning out Sora and Kairi's phone conversation.

--

I woke up. Knowing Sora and Kairi when it comes to important, secretive things, I guessed that Kairi didn't tell anyone else, except for my cousin and me of course. She was bitter, and angry, but then…she suddenly just snapped back into her normal self. She was the Kairi we've grown to love, and the one we've known for most of our lives…it was as if the disease had withered away, like a dead flower.

She was happy. And it felt like the best time of our lives until it finally happened.

What happened, you ask?

Well...well, she died a month later.

"She was out loving little girl, Kairi." My cousin and I heard her mother's voice tremble as the tears kept flowing down her face. Sora, being the more emotional one, was crying as well, but constantly wiped the tears away with a tissue.

Me? It wasn't that I didn't love Kairi, but I didn't cry. My attention was fixed onto Kairi's mother, who was just sobbing at the podium, trying to get her words out. I saw Kairi's step-father, comforting her as she wailed and sobbed for her beloved and only daughter.

As she was escorted down from the podium by Kairi's step-father, it was our turn to speak. I nudged Sora the same way I nudged him to talk to Kairi those ten years ago, telling him, "We're going up now."

He gulped, and then nodded. "Alright." he whispered sullenly back. I stood up first, and then Sora followed as we quietly made our way to the podium. I could hear the sad music playing in the background; I could hear people's sobs and sniffles accompany it. It was a depressing scene, but when someone important in your life just left, it's a depressing thing to describe the feeling.

I cleared my throat. "Kairi...Kairi was our first friend ever," I began, as people's eye-contact made their ways toward me. "It was when we were five; my cousin here was just moving into the house we live in today, when we saw Kairi squeeze into that little fence part and into our backyard.

"I could remember Sora asking if she was from a fairy world. I could remember the times Kairi was so mean to Sora, I could remember the first time we played in a public park. I remember my thirteenth birthday party; a surprise party planned by Sora and Kairi." I sighed, not sure if I could go on. "Wow...you know, she has done so much for us over the years."

And then, I stopped. I couldn't say the rest; now, it was Sora's turn. I motioned him toward the microphone, and he let out a shaky sigh. "I-I never wanted Kairi to leave us…never. But her time had come, and it had passed. She left us...with a smile on her face. She left us, being more optimistic and happy than we could ever be." He sighed again, and looked over at the half-open coffin.

And when a tear fell down his face, he said his voice cracking, "Kairi, I hope you're even happier than you were here. Roxas and I will always love you. May you rest in peace."

Since she was going to be buried the day after this; I couldn't imagine the things Sora could do, or threaten to do when she was six feet under; gone.

The visitation at the funeral home ended shortly after we sat down. I was only paying attention to Kairi's motionless face. I swear, the thought of her chest going up and down, _breathing_, was going through my head more than the thought of Kairi herself.

I doubted it for a long time. "There's no way, this is all a mistake!" I told myself over and over and over.

But I knew that she wasn't breathing; I knew that her heart wasn't beating.

Before we left the funeral home, I kissed Kairi's cold, lifeless cheek. Her skin was stiff as my lips merely grazed it.

It was something I've wanted to do for a long time, but I never got the chance to, until now, when she can't see it and tell me what she thought. Sora and I also left a paper in her coffin, so that "she'll read it when she gets the chance," he said.

I placed a hand on her cold, hard and motionless one, and I whispered, "See ya soon."

But walking out, I then realized that there's no way that hoping for Kairi to be alive again was gonna come true.

I saw it in those closed eyes of hers, which were never going to open again.

--

School is boring without Kairi. It's also depressing. Kairi was in most of my classes during the day, and I'm not exactly the best people-person.

I don't know how Sora's doing right now; he was the most out-going one and friendly. The friends he made would probably notice his change in behaviour today. I hope nothing bad happens to him.

I frown at the empty seat next to me; Kairi was like my best friend, and things were so different without her.

And so, class begins. The teacher starts rambling about something I should be paying attention to, but alas, I don't. Like any of this stuff is stuff I'd use in the future.

Government? It's not as important as my almost-best friend. The teacher doesn't exactly know about Kairi. So, everyone just comes to and me and pesters me, "Hey, Roxas! Where's Kairi, you're usually with her!", or something like "You're like peas and carrots, don't tell me you don't know!"

I don't want to answer them. I never do. It's too heart-breaking.

I've been a week without Kairi, and I'm _miserable_.

"Now, I'd like you to pair up into groups of...guess what? Two!" the teacher, being his strange enthusiastic self tells us. "But you don't get to choose. At tenth grade, I _still_ can't trust you kids."

Some giggle, some groan. Others make side jokes. "But that's okay, I hope I'll make things happen, because I'm pairing you into pairs of...You guessed it! Different genders! Wow, aren't you all happy?"

A few more people groan in reluctance. You know what, sir? I _would_ be happy, if Kairi were _here_. Now you're just rubbing it in my face that my best friend's gone.

Yeah, I'm _sooooooooo_, SO happy.

I close my eyes as I rest my head on the desk; I'm tired out of my mind. It's so difficult to sleep when the best friend you love is gone forever. You just can't help but think. 'What if she were still here? Would she do something?'

Thinking about that causes you to only get an hour or so of sleep every night.

I hear the teacher make his way over here, tapping his paper. He stops. And he says, "Roxas...Hmm. I'll pair you with...Naminé. Does that sound good?"

I don't care if he's talking to me, honestly, I really don't. Apparently, my silence to him is "Oh, yes, of course, sir! I'll succumb to your every will while I mourn for my close friend! Does _that_ sound good to _you_?"

"I expect a lot outta you two today," he tells us quietly. "especially you, Naminé."

I don't hear anything after that, except him walking away, and the sound of kids wandering around to get together with their partners. In reluctance, I raise my head to start whatever project-thing he was planning. Ugh, whatever. I might as well get on with it.

And the first thing I see is…Kairi?

"Are you awake, Roxas?" she asks me. I may be hallucinating, but for some strange reason…it brings peace to my heart for a little bit.

"Sure." I grumble. So much for peace in my heart, huh? But she just laughs quietly to herself.

"Well, we should start, right?" she takes a book from another desk (with no one around to see it, of course.), and looks at me. Quietly, she 'shh's me; the index finger to her lips. She chuckles, then waits.

What is she doing?

"…Aren't we supposed to be working now?" I ask the girl a little over a minute of her doodling, or something.

She lip-says to me, "Just watch."

I don't know why, but I'm not as sad anymore. I mean, of course I'm heavily distressed about...y'know, but this look-alike is bringing happiness back. Maybe it's because she looks like her.

Maybe I'm finally moving on.

Maybe…just mayb—

"Hey!" some kid shouts from the desk she took the book from, "Someone stole my book!"

I look at her, whose back was facing the fairly confused kid; she was giggling. Slick, I must say.

But she turns around, still in her giggle fit, "Just kidding, Tidus. Here's your book back."

I saw his eyes shrink into a glare, "Man, Naminé, stop doing that!" he replies in a child-like way. "Such a pest."

"Jerk!" I heard her playfully yell back. "Gawd, he's annoying sometimes."

Glumly, I reply, "Tell me about it."

"I should, shouldn't I?"

And we laugh.

"A-Anyways," she begins, clearing her throat. Maybe her throat was clogged. "We should get started, right?"

"Sure." I say as she takes a book from an empty desk. "But make sure you're not stealing another book."

She giggles quietly to herself. "Don't worry. I'm not. It's not like I'm expecting Tidus to come up to me and ask me--"

"Hey, Naminé, do you know where my book went?" Seriously, I just want to open this kid's head open and crush it against a desk right now! Tidus, please just GO AWAY!

She sighed, "Look, Tidus, I don't have it this time. Maybe look over at your desk?" She rolled her blue eyes, but she said it kindly. How she did that, I don't know.

"Oh! Would you look at that!" he laughed, scratching his head nervously. "Thanks, Naminé! You're so smart!" he compliments gleefully, gives her a tight embrace, and then walks away. I raise my eyebrow at that.

"...What's up with that kid?" I had to ask. I really did. But she laughs at me.

"Oh, Tidus is just a little..._strange_ around me," she shrugs. "I don't see why you should be weird like that around someone like me, but as long as I get hugs, I'm fine with it."

I chuckle a little.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she quickly apologizes. Huh?

"What're you apologizing for?" I ask, knowing that that apology was towards me.

She looks at me...and laughs nervously. "Y-Yeah, well, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Naminé." she sticks out a hand, and looks straight into my eyes.

Nervously, I take her hand, and shake it gently, "I'm Roxas," I tell her, still gazing into her eyes. "And it's nice to meet you."

Naminé giggles quietly. "Someone's being very polite all of a sudden." she says slyly. And I give a look to her.

I scoff, "You mean I wasn't being polite before?"

"I just meant that you're being a very..._polite_ and well-mannered gentlemen." she flashes a grin. I sense sarcasm in her voice.

I roll my eyes at her. "You sound _just_ like my Mom, you know that, Naminé?"

And today is a day, just like any other.

Except the fact that I met Naminé.

...Wow, I don't know why, but I'm starting to think everything's gonna change now.

--

"She's really nice, Sora, you should really get to know her." I explain to my cousin as we walk home. Sora doesn't seem like he's paying attention to me; I bet he's too focused on Kairi.

"Sure." he mumbles bitterly, which is totally out of character, knowing my cousin for the past ten years of my life or so. "Whatever you say, Roxas. Whatever you say."

Now, I feel really awkward around my cousin, which is a first in so many years. I was usually the quieter one out of the three of us, now for some reason, I can't shut up and he's all..._depressed_.

Although, it's understandable...he loved Kairi, after all.

So, I decide to be quiet and walk in silence.

--

It's been almost a month, and we're still working on that assignment in Government class, so I'm still working with Naminé.

...And for some reason, I just _can't stop thinking_ about her. I can't stop talking about how she looks like Kairi, or how amazingly optimistic and care-free she is...

I swear it's driving me _insane_.

"Well, this thing is due tomorrow." she mumbles. I look at her, and nodded.

"Yeah," I tell her, as I write more notes about the government of our island nation, and how they pass laws, and stuff. It's not like I'm retaining anything I'm writing at the moment. "Did you finish the stuff on election?"

"Suu-uuu-u-ure." she replies slowly. She then chuckles softly as she turns a page in her book. "Well, just a few more notes, and I'm good. It got so much more frustrating, huh?" she then looks at me with those ocean-blue eyes of hers.

I don't know why, but I can't stop looking at them. I have absolutely no words to describe this perfect, yet awkward moment of looking into a beautiful waterscape, lightly accented by--

"U-Uh...Roxas?" I snap out of my gaze.

And now, I realize I was just used really big, unnecessary words to heavily describe one sole feature of my assignment partner's face.

AND she caught me. Gawd...

"O-Oh, sorry, Naminé, just kinda distracted there." I spit out really quick, and then add a nervous chuckle. Man, I can't believe she caught me! This is the second time this week.

And it's only Monday.

"R-Right." Naminé shrugs. "Anyway, putting that aside, you done with that?" she points at the paper I currently left to stare at her face.

Putting that aside for now? Does that mean she'll deal with it later?

"U-Uh…A-Almost, I'll be done as soon as--,"

The bell rings and books are slamming; kids are pushing in chairs and opening binders to put their work inside. I sigh as Naminé walks away to get her stuff. I think I really screwed things up...

I grab my books and binders, and hold them down at my side as I walk out. But for a moment, I stop. Why, I don't know. But something just feels like it's not there.

Maybe I forgot something, I think. Oh well, I bet it's nothing important.

But I can't shake the feeling that it was.

--

"Thanks, Tidus!" Naminé hugs the boy tightly. "You're the best!"

He gives her a shy smile, and then it evolves into a grin, "No problem, Naminé!" he replies. And then he walks away with an enchanted look on his face.

I've only known Naminé for a month now, and I'm already feeling jealous of her talking to guys. I don't know what this is, but I feel like I have to be…_overprotective_ to her.

What the—What's going on with me?

I see her glance at me, maybe once, maybe twice. I couldn't stop thinking about how her hair feels like, or if she wears contacts. What body lotion does she use? What flat-iron does she prefer…?

…Did she even use a flat-iron? I wonder.

I can't even eat my lunch, because there's Naminé always walking by, looking pretty. It's hard to do my work, because I'm always wondering "Did she get this question? Maybe I could talk to her about it."

Of course, I never do anymore. Ever since that assignment ended, all I thought about was Naminé. What's she doing? How's her life? Does she have other super-pretty siblings I might wanna know about? And why am I asking so many questions?

I look down at my sandwich that I bought today; it looks bland. I'm not sure if I even wanna eat it.

Then, I knew I didn't wanna eat it, because Naminé sat down in the seat in front of me. I didn't know why, but she just looked at me with her pretty-blue, wide eyes; her facial expression was neutral.

"W-Why're you looking at me like that?" I ask, somewhat scared, but embarrassed. I wanna slap myself right now; what a girlish question to ask!

Seriously, what's wrong with me?

She laughs; "Can't someone just be a _little silly_ for once?" she playfully rolls her eyes at me, and then flashes a small smile. "You've seriously gotta lighten up, man!"

"Sure." I reply to her. "So, what's up?"

Believe it or not, that was actually really hard to get out.

"Oh, nothing really, just wanted to talk to you, at least once."

Flatly, I say, "…but we've talked more than just once."

"W-Well, you know, just once after that assignment. I hate it when I just don't talk to people anymore after like...once. You know what I mean?"

I nod. "Sure," I say again. "Uhmm…"

She giggles. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm looking at _her_ like _that_. I don't know, but I hope she doesn't notice. Please, I HOPE, HOPEEE she doesn't—

"Are you gonna eat that sandwich? It looks really good, y'know."

I don't know if I should tell her that I didn't like Turkey. "Uhmm...actually, I was debating about it just now."

"Oh, a debater, hmm." Naminé says. I don't know what to say…Unless...this works.

"Did you want it?"

She looks at me. "Well, you're gonna eat that anyways, so it's fine, I—"

Naminé suddenly pauses as an awkward grumble resonated from her stomach. She nervously smiles, grasping her stomach to soften the noise. I can't help but chuckle.

That was pretty amusing.

"You can have it, Naminé," I smile at her. "It's not like I'm really gonna eat it…"

"You sure?" she asks, opposing me. "It's not like I want your stomach growling in class later today," Naminé then adds a cheerful chuckle, shrugging.

"Well, I don't...I-I don't' want your stomach to keep on growling! It's like it's..._calling_ to me." I reply, quietly. Did she hear it, probably, because I hear her start to…laugh?

Wait, how was that funny? She found that funny?

Squeakily, she banters, "I-It's like a little monster going 'fee-eee-e-ed mee-ee-eeee-e! Gnnnyaaaah!!'" she laughs as she makes a little monster out of her hands, as if her fingers were the teeth, biting into air. How strangely-animated can you get?

"Hey, Naminé," I stand up.

Her joke stops, "Where're you going, Roxas?" she asks, almost frowning. I chuckle, even if I do feel bad about leaving Naminé alone like that.

"Sorry, I'll see you later, gotta get to my locker," I laugh. Hey, it's not like I didn't find that little, strangely-animated monster funny at all. "And by the way, you can have my sandwich, you're probably really hungry."

As I walk away, I can't resist a smile when I hear her shout across the room, "ARE YOU SURE?"

Even if she doesn't see it, I'm nodding.

I'm hoping to get that kinda of 'amazing-anime-boy' vibe towards her. Like, you know when the amazing guy does something extremely amazing for the girl, leaving her blushing at the amazement of the amazing guy?

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to accomplish. With a Turkey sandwich I made this morning.

But then again, I really do have to get to my locker. And maybe a quick trip to the bathroom would be nice.

--

Isn't it kinda sad when you've been infatuated with a girl for at least a month or so, and you only realize she's in the next three classes with you?

Yeah, I felt really stupid when I saw Naminé in the room.

She comes up to me, "You know, that Turkey sandwich was really good." She compliments.

I try to hold back a smile, but it doesn't work. What does make my smile fade is her next statement, "They're just like the ones my friend used to make."

That's ironic. I had a friend who used to make sandwiches like the ones I just made, too.

"I think you and your…cousin, I think it was, knew her really well." It's become more solemn between Naminé and me. "You said she was your first friend, after all."

I stop breathing for a second. Is she talking about…?

"…Look, Roxas, I know it's tough to eat without Kairi telling you to, but she's…she's happier now. And she'd be happier if you ate y'know."

Bad attempt at a joke. I blink. Slo-oo-owly. And then, I say, "W-Were you there? Those nights at the hospital? The visiting? The funeral?" I hardly manage to choke out. I-I can't believe she knows about this stuff. Maybe…maybe she's playing a horrible, horrible prank on me.

"I was there, Roxas. She called me right after she called you, telling you guys about…you know. Kairi wanted you guys to know that knew she didn't have too long to live, but she'd be happier when she passed, so you should be, t—"

"—H-H…How do you know Kairi?" I have to know; Kairi knows a lot of people, just which not a lot of them could possibly be close to her as much as Naminé says she was without Sora or I knowing.

"I met her…when I was five. Preschool," she sniffles, then sighs. "Well, we should catch a seat, right? We can't be standing the whole class period; that would be painful." A small, nervous smile then spreads across her pale face.

"Yeah," I agree. "I'll sit by you, is that okay?"

"That's fine," she replies, and inwardly, I sigh in relief. "Besides, no one sits around me, anyway. It gets kinda lonely."

--

I haven't been better friends with someone other than Naminé (Well, except Sora…and Kairi, of course.), which is good for me, because I'm definitely crushing on her.

Definitely.

But nowadays, I feel like I can trust her with everything; my secrets, what I like, what I don't like, who I think is hot, what I think about people and…

…what I think about her, etc.

Of course, being me, I don't just go up to her one day and say "I need to tell you something", and then just start rambling about things. She probably wouldn't care.

But when I do get into situations like that, it's me doing the talking/rambling, and it's her being the patient listener. It makes me feel like I'm important, and special.

Although, I don't know if I'm ready to tell her about my…feelings…

…For Kairi.

The name still brings the guilt; every time Naminé said it, I'd get this queasy feeling in my stomach and the constant thoughts of her raided my head.

It's been almost a six months, and I still miss her.

It's a normal day at lunch, with Naminé and I (of course she goes first!) sitting at our lunch table, with her facing toward me, and I facing toward her. Simple, practical.

But to me, it was much more complicated. And didn't make as much sense; why'd she choose me over everyone else?

"H-Hey, Roxas," Naminé asks me today, acting somewhat more quiet than before. "Can I ask you something?"

Slightly, I tilt my head in confusion (It was something I caught from Sora.), slowly replying, "Sure. Shoot, Naminé."

I notice her gulp; this must be something really out-of-the-ordinary for her to be acting like this, and around me at that.

"But don't freak out, okay?" she asked quickly, with those sincere eyes of hers.

I nod, and silently, I promise to myself.

"What was it exactly that you…thought about…y-you know."

"Uh…no, Naminé, I don't." I lightly chuckled, trying to brighten up the mood around the two of us.

There's a moment of awkward silence.

And then, she clears her throat. "What did you think about Kairi?" she choked. And I nearly did myself.

"K-Kairi?" it's awkward speaking her name these days. Now, I want to stop this conversation and move onto a lighter topic, like the new Star Wars game, or maybe how the Homecoming Dance was like last year.

But no, she chooses the topic of Kairi.

Thank God Sora's not around to hear this; he wouldn't have taken this well.

Then again, I'm don't think I'm taking this any better. I let her ask another question, because I could tell she had another to ask, even if that guilty look in her ocean-blue eyes was very apparent.

"Did you…y'know, have feelings for her?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Did you like her?"

"Yeah, of course, why else would I be her friend--"

"—as more than a friend?"

And that's when my heart almost stopped.

"…" I could only sit in silence, trying to choke out the words that I longed to say; words that I've no longer thought were useful.

Naminé asked, "Did you?" which to me sounded like "So much for not freaking out." to me.

"Y-Yeah." It's quiet, and unheard, but I quickly nodded to emphasize that I did.

"You still do, huh?" her voice is cracking. This is probably awkward for her, too. If it was so weird to talk about, why bother bringing it up?

"I'd rather not talk about it." I merely replied, my eyes lowering. "Maybe some other time."

She's hurt; I can tell. But I can tell, only because she's walking away to class already.

Dammit, I can't believe I couldn't just tell her. But…how did she know?

--

In my locker after school, I see a note sticking out. What? A note? Wow, I think I should read it.

It reads,

"Roxas,

Sorry about what happened at lunch; I didn't mean for it to be that awkward. I chose a bad place to try and talk about that, huh? XP I'm guessing you're not in the mood to talk about that, so why don't we just hang out today…Maybe near the front of the school? I'll be there a while, so if you'd like, just take your time. :D

Thanks,

Naminé"

Man, I love Naminé's handwriting; It's so perfect and aligned slightly left, but it's too distractingly-neat that you wouldn't notice. The paper's nice, too.

Front of the school. Hmm, that's not too hard to find. And since I've nothing really important to talk about, and I know where she's gonna be (stalker much?), I guess I should.

It wouldn't hurt, right?

And so, I'm already walking to the front of the school. It's quite abnormal for me, because I usually just walk to a nearby store and window-shop with Sora (whose probably getting mad at me not being there.), but I think I should talk to Naminé first, before the window-shopping.

Besides, window-shopping at toys these days isn't worth it; the toys are horrible!

"H-Hey, Naminé," I say quietly, poking her shoulder. She turns, with her blue eyes peering into my own. I'm…nervous?

"Roxas!" she said, happily. "I'm assuming you got my note?"

I roll my eyes. Seriously, c'mon, Naminé! "No-o-o, I didn't. I just happen to use my instinct to walk myself over here to talk about things, Naminé. And I just happen to have telepathy."

"Really, then? If you're so telepathetic, what am I thinking of right…now?" she smirked.

I hope you're thinking of me, because I'm thinking of you. Just don't use your telepathy on me.

She made a poorly-imitated sound of a game buzzer. "Wrong! Roxas is GHEY!"

"I'm not gay! I'm perfectly straight!" I protest.

"Now you're just assuming, I said 'g-h-e-y,' and not 'g-a-y', there's a difference!"

"Am I supposed to know that in English?"

"No, but you're supposed to know not to assume, so you learned two things today!" she let out a cheer. I roll my eyes. Oh, Naminé.

"Oh, gee, I feel loved."

"You are."

And that just stumped me…she said I was loved? She said, I, Roxas, was loved…

By her, maybe? I don't know what to say back, I-I mean, it's kinda embarrassing to—

Oh, geez! Stupid cell phone; the vibrations are surprising.

"Hello?" I ask through the phone. What? I'm too lazy to actually look at Caller ID anymore.

"Roxas, where are you?" Sora sounds kinda angry. See what I meant by 'probably getting mad at me not being there' yet? He's a bit of a hot-head sometimes.

"I'm still at the school; I was just talking to someone for a little bit." I reply, calmly. Sometimes, he just has to chill about things.

"You've been there long enough; Auntie's here already and she's getting mad, so hurry up." He states.

"Okay, I'll—"

What a jerk, cutting me off like that.

"Naminé, sorry, I gotta go; my cousin's being a prick at the moment and my mom's here to pick us up." I frown at her expression on her face.

But she smiles. "Alright, then, Roxas. This someone right here'll see you tomorrow." She laughs quietly. "You better hurry up."

"Yeah, I know," and then I chuckle. "See you tomorrow, Naminé!"

"See ya!"

I begin to run off, but I stop myself as I turn around. "You have Messenger?" I ask her. There's no way you can get to know someone just through school chats.

She nods, "You have it, too?" I nod back at her as she takes my hand, writing really quickly, an email address. "Will you be on tonight?"

"Yeah, of course,"

Naminé grins, "I'll ttyl, Roxas!" and then laughs. I chortle under my breath; I love Naminé's sense of humor, it's so quirky.

I wave. "Bye, Naminé!"

And I run off to the window-shopped store to soothe my cousin's anger and make sure I don't get yelled at for "wasting gas."

--

I can't believe I'm nervous about talking to Naminé on the computer. It's really stupid, actually. But still, I can't help but think I'm gonna mess up.

…how in the FREAKIN' world can you mess up an instant message conversation? If I'm being paranoid about it, I'm guessing it's happened before.

Great. I see her name on the list...Oh, geez, what do I say? What do I say?

MY hands are in place on the keyboard, and I've got no other windows up.

Just Naminé's Messenger chat box. And that's it.

Naminé: Hey! :D:D

Well, she did the first move, then.

Roxas: Oh, hey! XD watsup?

That should be safe for now…I'm guessing. Wow, this isn't as scary as I thought. Just a tad bit different, is all.

Naminé: Eh, nmjc here. It's boring bein an only child, yknow?

Roxas: Only child? I'd think that's paradise; Sora's a pain in the ass sometimes. D

Naminé: LOL, I guess so. But then you got no one to finish yr food when yr full. That's always a pain.

Roxas: I'm glad I have Sora, then, :D

Naminé: And you've got me…at school! XD

Now she's bringing up the Turkey sandwich thing that was suuuuuuuuch a while ago. I can't believe she remembered that.

Roxas: That I do, Naminé, that I do. ;D

Naminé: AHAHA, nice smilie. Lemme wink back ;D

Roxas: That's a very nice wink you've got there, Naminé.

Naminé: Why ty, Roxas. Yours is equally as attracting.

Roxas: I'm very proud of it, thank you.

I don't know how long this conversation lasted, but when I check the clock, it's probably gonna be around…eleven?

Now, if we started at…five, and ended at eleven, that was quite a while I was sitting on my butt typing and laughing my face off.

Of course, I only check the clock because Sora tells me to.

He's kinda mad at me for hogging the computer, but he'll cool down.

"Make sure you turn it off, Roxas," he reminds me.

"Yeah, yeah, I will." I wave him off.

When we walk up to our room (Yeah, we still have to share a room, isn't that sad?), he asks me, "Seriously, what were you doing on the computer for six hours straight?"

I shrug, "Messenger." I tell him, a smile on my face. Of course, I'd never tell him about Naminé.

"Oh, wow, Roxas. You're never on Messenger."

"I-I…I just decided to get back on,"

"Don't use it too much, Ro—"

"So maybe when you message me, I can actually reply, huh?"

"Jerk."

"I got like twenty offline messages from you, Sora. Don't call me a jerk, just someone who likes to stick to the facts."

"You know, I can't call you that if it's not true, right?"

"Then you can't call me a jerk."

"But that's true."

"You shut up, you jerk."

"Oh, now I'm the jerk, Roxas? Talk about being a prick, huh?"

"Now we're getting into those higher-level words. Calm yourself, grasshopper."

He rolls his eyes,"Yes, sensei," he tells me, his dialogue leaking with sarcasm.

"And for that, you're brushing your teeth first."

"…Jerk."

--

Talking to Naminé on Messenger has almost changed my life. Except for the fact that I barely talk to her in person anymore. What happened to the loving, blue eyes, of the girl with the almost pin-straight, blonde hair?

I barely see them anymore, maybe sometimes at lunch, but it's all about the small blue font in the light-purple highlighting not her eyes and clothing, and the smilies, not the smiles.

Things are different. Or maybe they're just the same as they were before Naminé and I became close friends.

Although I've talked to Naminé most of the time when I'm on the computer, I still don't feel like I'm talking to Naminé herself. It looks more like a lifeless machine, being a messenger.

"Don't use it too much," I remember my cousin saying to me once. Can't remember when, but it doesn't really matter.

And now, I'm really taking his advice by sitting on the computer and waiting for Naminé to finish her typing.

"You know, Roxas," my cousin's voice breaks the silence I was in, staring at the screen. "You could do a huge favour for me."

"And what would that be?" I don't glance at him.

"Get off, I wanna use it."

"Not now, she's almost done."

"Roxas, 'she' can wait, I've gotta check something real quick."

"You can wait, too, Sora."

I hear him sigh; I don't bother to look. "Roxas, I'm tired of you hogging the computer all the damn time, let me use it!"

"I said wait, Sora."

"Just call her! Landlines are free!" he continues, still. "You know what?"

He pushes me out of the way so he could type something? Seriously, rude!

"H-Hey, what're you doing, Sora?"

He ignores me until he harshly presses the enter button, looks at me, then walks away. I can't believe he could just do that; type whatever he wants.

It said, "Roxas: I think it's better if we talk like, normally. So, could I get your number?"

How sleazy could you get?

But she replied, "I agree, lol. This is kinda weird. Ahahah. So, here you go,"

And that's how Naminé's phone number was within my grasp.

Thanks, Sora.

"Naminé: That's my cell, so call any time ;D LOL"

…Thanks, Sora.

"Alright, thanks!" I reply. "I'll see you tomorrow at school?"

"Sure! Ahaha, I gtg anyways, so bye byeee! :D:D"

"Bye:D"

I'm gonna call her tomorrow.

--

"Naminé!" I see her blonde hair in the crowd of people at the front of the school; distinguishable. "N-Naminé!"

I see her turn around, and look, but she doesn't make eye contact with me. I walked, dodging around people to try and reach her. "Naminé!"

And finally, she sees me, "Roxas!" she squeals, and then violently embraces me. Wow; I'm blushing.

"Man, we haven't talked in person in forever!" she widens her eyes at "forever", and then gives her signature grin I'm already in love with.

"It's only been like…three weeks."

"That's long to me!" she stuck her tongue out, "So what's up with you? Any girlfriends?" she giggled.

Now, I'm just curious. "Not at the moment, why're you asking?"

"Curious."

"Talk about telepathy." I mumble.

"What was that, Roxas?" she asks me. I think I should be more nervous over this than first talking to her on Messenger.

I shake my head, "No, nothing at all."

"Oh…okay then," she says. "You wanna walk to the store with me?" she points to a store that I know! The window-shopping store. "I know your cousin's waiting there, window-shopping probably."

"Probably. And sure, I'll go with you."

"Sweet, then!" we start to walk down path to the main street, "You two seriously need to get some money; window shopping can be such a bore sometimes." Naminé comments.

"It can be," I agree with her, shrugging. "But when you're with a cousin of yours who likes window-shopping for the stupid things, it gets entertaining." I laugh.

And she does, too, "I bet it does," she sighs, "you two still looking at the toys section, aren't you?"

"Yes, Naminé, we do, but its fun poking at the models and stuff, because they really suck."

"Do they?"

That they do, Naminé. "Yeah, they do."

"What do you consider…not suckish? Because some of those models are pretty cool, in my opinion."

"W-What?! Are you kidding me?! The way some of those things shoot their disks is just inconvenient!"

"Express that, Roxas."

"You're not supposed to pull the thing front to shoot it front; that's just unethical and really, REALLY inconvenient. Second, their weapon thing looks horrible!"

"…Someone's hatin'."

"Damn straight."

I see the store with its light-brown paint on the outside; I think it looks nice for a store like that. A couple cars are parked in front; none of them is my mom's car, so Sora must still be here.

Somehow, we've gotten to the newest games, and critiquing those. It seems like we have a smiliar taste in games, but toys, ha! Naminé's choice in toys is just disappointing.

But that's okay, every little thing about her makes up for it; you need a really big collateral for her taste in toys, so that works out just fine.

As we reach the store, I lightly-jog in front of her and open the door. She peered into my eyes with her captivating, ocean-blue ones, and then said, "Thank you."

I stare at her as she walks (so she can't see me, of course.), and then look away when she says, "Roxas, hurry up!"

Walking into the store, I feel the air conditioner's light breeze pass by me; that feels good.

I sigh. Then, I hear something.

"Roxas!" And oh, joy. It's that abomination to life named Sora…

Kidding, kidding. I love my cousin; he just comes it at the wrong time.

But, seriously, why'd you have to go ahead and do that?! I'm so kicking your ass when we get home, Sora!

I roll my eyes as Naminé says, "Hey, is that Sora?" with a tilted head. Unfortunately, I want to add, but of course, that's not possible at the moment.

"Yup, that's Sora."

"Ahh, I see, Roxas. So, you have to go…right?" her talking slows down as she notices my cousin getting pissed. Right now, I just want to kick him in the face right now.

"Unfortunately," I grumble as I walk toward Sora. But then, I hear Naminé calling me back; Oh, wow, what a relief, but why?

"Yeah, Naminé?"

"So, you're just gonna walk past me, or give me a hug?"

A…H-Hug? Is she serious? "A hug?"

"Yes, Roxas, a hug. Now come here," she spreads her arms wide open, putting a pout on her face. I…I guess I can.

And so, we hugged. I really liked that perfume she wore that day. Actually, I think it was the perfume she wore everyday…either way, it was still good. She always smelled good for some reason. Maybe too good.

"Bye, Roxas!" she waves, with a playful smile on her face. "I'll see you tomorrow at school!"

I wave back, with a purposed princess wave, "Bye, Naminé!" I say. She laughs; probably at my princess wave. I love it when she laughs, it makes me feel like doing such a fruity move is worth it.

While I was still waving, I felt a tug on my shirt. "Uahh!" I let out as the sharp tug sends me flying back. "S-Sora, what're you doing?"

"Auntie's coming soon, so come outside with me." He says right by my ear; very secretive, and totally not noticeable.

"You sound like a girl," I tell him, with a roll of my eyes. He sighs, but I go with my cousin anyway. Ridiculous.

"As we exit the automatic sliding doors, he points inside, "You see that chick you walked in with?"

"Oh, yeah, Naminé? What about her, Sora?"

"Stay away from her.

"W-What?! Why?" What in the world was he talking about?

"Just watch, Roxas."

I watched. I mean, of course I was going to watch (just because she's Naminé), but because there was something I didn't expect at all to happen.

She walks out of the side exit of the store. Of course, she hugs a guy, and talks to him. And then I see him give her something. Sora is silent; I still don't know what he's talking ab—

Oh, my God. Naminé just stuck one end of it in her mouth. The other end's being lit.

"Yep, that girl's a stoner, Roxas." He says to me, gravely.

And I refuse to believe it.

"You didn't know that?"

I don't believe it, I don't believe it, I don't believe it…

"Roxas, are you paying attention to me?"

I just watch her take the cigarette out of her mouth, and blow out some smoke in disbelief. "No, this isn't happening."

"Are you still gonna hang around her, Roxas?"

"W-What? That's not Naminé, I swear!"

"That's Naminé; She's a whore, too. A stoner whore, wow, Roxas. You really know how to get to girls, y'know? I bet she's just another lying skank, like the rest of them—"

"Shut up, Sora!"

"Why should I, Roxas? I'm only trying to—"

"You don't know anything about Naminé; She's not your friend, she's mine. And how do you know she's a whore? The real Naminé, the Naminé I know would never, never do that!"

"What the hell are you talking about? Do you not see that? I bet you that Naminé's not even a virgi—"

"Shut the fuck up, Sora! For once, you should just stop talking!" I snap back at him

And I don't feel any remorse.

I walk away from him, from Naminé, from that stupid store. Sora's wrong, he's wrong! That's definitely not Naminé!

He's completely out of his mind.

--

My mom was really angry at me when she found out I had to walk all the way back, which took about thirty minutes or so. I'm glad I know my way around town.

Although, Sora and I are still kinda pissed off at each other ("kinda" is an understatement, actually. We're snapping at each other every chance we get.), we managed to tolerate one another. Yep, it was hard.

But that night, in our room (I don't know why, but we still share a room.), it was pitch dark. My anger for Sora was still strong, but I was able to answer his question:

"What's up with you and Naminé?"

I freeze; I pretended to sleep, but I know a question like that would be kinda hard to avoid, since we only got up to bed two minutes earlier.

"Nothing." I reply, coldly.

"Oh, yeah, that's specific, Roxas. And you're lying, do you like her or something?"

"W-Why do you wanna know?"

"Well, I should kinda know, and besides, if it were the case, whatever type of cover-up you're trying to use isn't exactly covering up anything." I could hear him scoff quietly.

"Why do you care, Sora? Are you looking for any answer to make me feel stupid?" He was silent, so I continued on. "Yeah, maybe I do. Maybe I do, but would you care if I liked a 'stoner whore' like Naminé? You never really cared."

"What are you talking about I never cared? I've always cared about you, Roxas! I'm your cousin for crying out loud!"

"If you've always cared, why didn't you care about my feelings for Kairi?"

"…Are you shitting me, Roxas?"

"I'm not shitting anything, or anyone. You just never cared enough to realize that I liked Kairi, too! You never realized that maybe, just maybe, I liked her, too! And maybe it's because of that…maybe that's why I started liking 'stoner whores', Sora!"

There was a silence…and then I heard Sora sigh. "Fine, maybe what I called her was a tad harsh." He said quietly. "But you saw it yourself, Roxas."

"I-I…I—I refuse to believe you."

"Fine, Roxas. Suit yourself; if she tries to get in your pants, don't come crying to me that you're the father of some drug-induced baby."

"Sora, just shut up."

"What, I—"

"I said to shut up, Sora."

"Fine, fine."

We're not bitter enemies anymore, but I'm still a bit angry at him. But…then, I started thinking, "Maybe he deserves to know about Naminé." Maybe…but I'll keep it to myself for now.

It's been a week or something since that, and Naminé was completely normal until today. She didn't even touch her lunch yet…what's wrong?

"So…u-uh, Naminé, what's up?" I ask her, nervously. Wait, why am I so nervous? It's just asking her what's wrong…that's all. Don't let Sora's opinion on her affect anything, just keep your cool, keep your—

"Nothing really, Roxas." She said, sullenly.

"That's totally understandable."

"Yep, it is."

I look at her, but she turns away, and sighs as she looks at the wall. "I was being sarcastic."

"I know you were."

"Naminé, seriously, you're not normal today." I tell her, trying to get her to at least look at me.

She snapped her head toward me, actually. Well, at least I got her to look at me, even if she has a glare on her face.

I gulp as she grabs my wrist; her expression then softens. What is she doing? "Can I talk to you in private?"

I don't think I have a choice in the matter, "Sure."

She stands up, and I follow suite, walking through the halls to an empty place. Finally, she stops in front of her locker; right by the cafeteria, but still far away. That place is loud, anyways.

"Roxas, I think there's something I should tell you." She mumbles. No wonder she wanted to talk in private.

"And what would that be?"

"…I-I'm…Well, you're right, I'm not normal today."

"I can see that—"

"—And that's because I'm pregnant."

"…What?"

"You know how we were at the store the other day and I sorta…ditched you?" she has a guilty look in her eyes as she continues, "Since Sora was there and everything, but…"

"…but?"

"I-I was hanging out with some of my friends…or, actually, none of them are my friends anymore, but… I went home with one of the guys, and… uh, stuff happened."

I see where she's going with this, but how could she know she was pregnant the day after?

"How do you know you're pregnant, though?" I have to know. I have to know, I really do.

"I'm late…and we didn't exactly…use protection."

"A-Ah." I choke on the words I was supposed to let out…Naminé not using protection? Oh, wow, that's not exactly helpful, or expected of.

"If my parents find out, oh, man, I'm in so much trouble." Naminé whispers with a cracking voice., "I need help, as much help as I could get…but I'm not forcing you to help, of course, I wouldn't do that."

"I'll help you, Naminé, in any way I can," I tell her, with determination in my heart. "don't worry, I'll help you."

She smiles at me, "Thanks, Roxas. You're a good friend."

"No problem." I reassure her, and embraced her in my arms. She's really messed up, but I'll do anything to help her out of this.

"You know, Kairi wouldn't exactly be happy right about now, Roxas." Naminé mentions right after we broke off the hug, "She'd probably yell at me first before trying to help out…Man, I miss her."

"I do, too." I reply. I want to cry; my friend was almost forgotten, up until last week when Sora and I had that argument…maybe my feelings for Kairi were changing for Naminé.

"If she weren't gone…maybe I wouldn't be in this mess…" I notice a tear stream down her face. "I don't have a friend to talk about my problems anymore. Now all I do to get away from it all is drugs and smoking and all of this stupid stuff…now I'm some kind of a whore."

I was appalled. Sora was right.

But that didn't mater right now. Naminé really needs my help, and I'm going to give it to her.

--

"Hey, Sora." I greet flatly as I walk into our room. I notice he doesn't turn around; too caught up in "homework", I see.

"Hey, Roxas." He repeats. And he doesn't say anything after that.

Now, how am I supposed to do this without making another argument? "Listen, Sora, about what you said before…"

"What, 'do the dishes before I steal your favourite hamburger pillow!'? I was kidding about that, Roxas, so you can chil—"

"It's not that, Sora…it's about…" I sigh deeply, "It's about Naminé." I spat out. Plain and simple.

"Wh—what about?"

"You were right, actually. She does those things; she smokes, drinks…I can't believe it, though."

"I hate to say this…but I told you so, Roxas."

"I'm not finished; She's a good person. Really. She may be smoking and doing drugs, but that doesn't mean she's—"

"Look, Roxas, she's not a virgin."

"…Huh? How'd you conclude to that?" I'm not supposed to tell Sora…not yet. So, how does he know about that? Is it his opinion, is he kidding?

"Half of the school knows already, Roxas. She slept with one of the stoners. Figures, huh? Stoners with stoners. But you know what? She's probably embarrassed out of her mind, while he's going around telling people he got laid."

And I'm still appalled. "I can't believe you know."

"Seriously, who doesn't?" he actually turns around to look at me with that look.

"So, Naminé's pregnant…" I can only sigh. "Look, Sora."

He actually looks at me. Wow, how nice would that be if he were always this obedient?

"Yes, Roxas?"

"I-I'd like to apologize."

He probably doesn't ask why, only because he knows.

"I should not've let myself yell at you like that; you were right…Naminé may be important to me, but I should've learned to control myself…Will you forgive me?"

He only looks at me with that face…the one that's borderline "I don't care", and "what are you talking about, anyways?" which gives me a horrible feeling down in my gut.

"Oh, my cheesy Roxas, I guess I can," He tells me. "I don't care if those things were true…I should've never said such nasty things about her….so, I guess I'm sorry, too."

I smile at him, "Heh, what are brothers for?"

He smiles back, then changes his face to confusion, raising a brow, "But, Roxas,"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't we cousins?"

I roll my eyes. "Don't you bother bringing that up again, Sora."

--

I ended up telling Sora about Naminé's situation; when I told Naminé, apparently, she was okay with it.

"Well, now that you know, Sora…please, don't like….tell anyone?" she told him in a quiet voice.

He grinned, "Sure thing, Naminé."

I still don't know if Sora knows that Naminé knew Kairi, too. Maybe I shouldn't tell him.

But everything rushes by now…month to month, from day one to day ten…I can't even remember how last week was.

Before I knew it, she was already getting the nastier comments from her bulging stomach. I'm glad she didn't kill it, but I don't think she should deserve this kind of treatment for keeping a life.

Finally, it was it. She was going to give birth.

But I wasn't there to see it. While running in the hospital, I suddenly felt a jab on my shoulder…

--

"Dude, Roxas, wake up!" I hear Sora's voice annoyingly pester me. I groan, what happened?

"Huh, where am I?" I ask. I know I'm on some sort of couch…

"You're in the living room, smart one. You kinda fell asleep."

I rub my eyes, "I know that, Sora."

"You're not exactly implying that."

"Whatever."

"Listen, its 6:30 now, and we've got school. Kairi's gonna be here soon!" he jumps giddily.

My eyes travel to the clock, which supported Sora's statement. I sigh—wait, Kairi?

"Kairi? Why's she here?"

"Because we walk with her to school everyday, smart one." He retorts, "What is your problem?"

"Doesn't she have…you know…lung cancer?"

Sora looks at me for a second, with wide eyes, and then bursts into laughter. I look at him, with an angry expression.

"Why are you—?"

He still laughs, "Oh, my—" takes a breath, "GOD, Roxas!" he continues to laugh, as I glare at him. "You're so stupid, I-I can't believe it!"

"What are you taking abou—?"

"Geez, Roxas, she was joking! Did—Did you actually believe her?" his laughter ceased to chuckles. "You're so gullible sometimes; it's absolutely hilarious!."

My eyes widen…and then, I laugh. Wow, it was all a joke. And that means…it was all a dream.

"Wait a minute, you heard that conversation?" he asks me. I blink.

"Yeah."

"Awhh, crap." He groans.

"Huh?"

"Well, maybe Kairi should tell you." He laughs, somewhat bashfully. "In the meantime, she's walking over here, so get ready already!"

"Okay, okay, Sora!" I tell him as I spring off of the couch. I can't believe it…Kairi's not dead (nor do I have feelings for her!), Sora's not an asshole, and Naminé's not pregnant.

Naminé…oh, wow. Did I even meet her in reality? Or did I only know her through a dream?

I'll never know.

After getting ready, I hurry down the stairs. "C'mon, Roxas!" I can hear Sora pestering. "Kairi's here!"

"I know, I know!" Wow, he's in a rush to see Kairi.

As I walk out the door, I make sure it's locked as Sora grins ridiculously over by Kairi. I want to hug her first, but he gets there before me.

"Hey, Kairi," I hear him greet.

"Hey, Sora, how are you?" she asks him. And then I notice what he was talking about when they clasped hands.

I gasp. "You guys are kidding me, right?"

"I don't think so," Kairi giggles, then looks at Sora. "Right, Sora?"

"I guess not."

While we start to walk, I ask still gawking, "Wh-When did this happen, seriously?!" for someone like me, this is unbelievable! My cousin has been crushing on Kairi since he started to like girls!

He must be ecstatic.

"I'm so ecstatic!" he cheered, as Kairi giggled.

"But seriously," I start out, flatly, then raised my voice a little bit. "I don't get it. How'd you two do it?!"

"While you were sleeping…I really don't know how it happened, but it happened…" Sora sighs, gleefully. He's obviously on top of the world. "But then again, I had to tell her sometime."

"We're like fifteen, I don't think it's too soon to date, right?"

I shrug, "I guess not. Congrats, Sora. Finally got the girl."

"Yeah." He grins. "Isn't it ironic when someone leaves, the ones left behind become closer?"

I tilt my head. "What do you mean by that?"

Kairi laughs, as Sora explains. "Well, you kinda disappeared for the whole day…so, I got together with Kairi, and we _definitely_ got closer." He winks at the redhead, who giggles.

"Oh, I love you, Sora." She says, while hugging him as we walk (You know, I could never do that, I'm not much of a multi-tasker).

"Don't worry, Kairi, I love you, too." He tells her, and then looks ahead.

I clear my throat, "If you're dating, why don't you guys kiss or something?" it was an irresistible question to ask.

"Well, with Kairi and her cold, I'm kinda cautious." Sora chuckles. That made me feel so much better; she didn't have lung cancer, just a stupid cold. Thank you, doctor! "Wow, we better walk a bit faster, huh?" he interrupts.

"Oh, shoot! You're right! We've only got ten minutes! And I still have to do my math homework!" I slapped my forehead; I can't believe I forgot to do my math homework!

"How could you _not_ remember that?" Kairi asks.

"I don't know." I reply, shrugging. "We're almost there, too! Darn it!"

"C'mon!" Kairi starts running as Sora and I follow after. She's a fast runner, too, so it might be a tad hard for me to keep with her.

I see the school just a little bit ahead, and give myself credit for not being late. OF course, Kairi's already there.

"What a morning work out, huh?" she sighs, and then laughs. "You guys are slow!"

"You're just fast, Kairi." Sora rolls his eyes as she giggles. "Next time, wait for us, okay?"

"Well, I'm not running now, Sora." She shrugs. "Well, you better get that math homework done, Roxas. We've got maybe fifteen minutes before school starts."

I checked Kairi's phone (That's how she knew the time), and noticed that it was around 7:05. Great, I've got a good fifteen minutes or so. Not bad for someone who hasn't really ran in a while.

Walking fast, I make my way into the school, up to the library. They've got a ton of textbooks for each grade level there, which is helpful for people like me, who go to sleep and dream about their best friend, now their cousin's girlfriend dying of lung cancer and running into a girl who was close to her, too, and ended up pregnant with some stoner's child.

Now that I think about it that was one crazy dream. Absolutely bizarre.

I steal (of course, it wasn't really bad.) an Algebra 2 textbook, remembering the homework was on page 120, problems forty through eighty all. Why I remember that, I don't know.

As I sit down to rush through my homework, I feel someone walk by. Of course, that's normal.

But when she turns around, I stare in awe at her barely-familiar shiny, blonde hair and crystal-blue eyes. "You have Algebra 2 also?" she asks me.

I nod, slowly, not able to break my gaze with her eyes. "Unfortunately," I spit out at her nervously. I guess she noticed, because she starts to laugh.

And I laugh along with her.

She then starts to look through her bag for something. I wonder what it could be…

As she leaves a sheet of paper on the library table, all flat and perfect, I notice it's the homework I should've done last night. I stare at her, "U-Uh…thanks a lot!"

"No problem." She smiles at me, running a hand through her blonde-coloured hair. "Oh, by the way, I'm Naminé." She leaves the other hand out for a shake.

"I-I'm Roxas. It's a pleasure to meet you." I reply to her gesture, shaking her hand.

She giggles, "Same here. I'll see you later, Roxas." She waves, almost playfully at me. I can't help but goofily wave back at her.

Wow, she's a looker.

…Maybe you should know that I'm not much of a multi-tasker. That's why I can't think about Naminé and copy her math homework at the same time.

And thinking about Naminé is looking more appealing at the moment; it's not something I could stop doing as easily as math homework.

Oh, **_sweet irony_**…

* * *

Yupp, this is my writing for this epic period or my life. And yupp, YOU ALL LIKED THAT ENDING, :D

At least it wasn't a bad one, no, not the least. It was actually thought of last minute when I got stuck at the most epic part of the whole entire freakin' oneshot. O-o That's sad.

I must say, HAPPY BIRFFDAY, PEAFUS! I know, you're kinda angry at me, but this whole thing was dedicated to you, okay? I didn't bother writing another oneshot; too much work. XD And it also sucked.

Overall, this was more quantity over quality, so…lol. I'm just happy I'm done with this! :D Do you know how much a 12,000+ word oneshot is a pain in your face?

-shudder- Anyways, I'll go now. Thanks for everyone who's helped me with this, one way or another, lol. Even if you don't know it. :D

So, please leave some reviews! And say "HAPPY BIRFFDAY!!" to Peafus, too! It's sad how I don't know how old she is.

How pathetic.

Anyways, I'll see you all laterrr, hopefully, when I update **WYMB**…That is, if I decide to update it. :D

**eCZi.**


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